The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1887-05-02
The Strangers Church.

The Rev. DR. Long, pastor Of II o
Strangers Church, selected for his
text yesterday Heb !, l.3: Sod who
at sundry times and in divers man
ners spake in times past unto the
fathers by hia prophets within these
last days spoken unto us by his Son,
who being the brightness OF his glory
and the image OF his person." etc.
When God spl axis to men He reveals
His thought and sentiment to mer,
and when He reveals His thought al d
sentiment He reveals His character
that is, himself From the earliest
dawn OF human history God had
been making known His character
and will In various ways. We see
God, face 10 face. We understand
His heart. We know his character,
There can be no doubt about the value
Of His person. Tie brightness OF His
glory shines upon us. The perfect
image Of His changeless nature has
been photographed upon the retina of
our souls. His glory consi sts
in character. That Is changeless In
its goodness and It's purify. OF that
glory Jesus Christ Is said 10 be the
brightness, and OF that character or
person He is the express image. This
means that God Ia revealed In Jesus
Christ. There are two natural methods
OF attaining TO some knowledge oil the
Diety. The fret is by the light OF ma
ture. There can be no doubt that msn
may reach sumo understanding OF The
nature OF the Diety by his works.
Mature with open olume stands,
To spread her makers life abroad,
AndeV y labor of His hands,
Shows something worthy Of a God"
Men need more than the light OF
nature TO tel them who and what
God is. There is then another method
by which we may rise higher in our
conceptions oil Hin. When God made
man in His own image He made him
with faculties corresponding with His
own. hold that II man could thor
oughly understand himself, know his
moral and int leclual nature clearly,
with all It's possibilities, that knowl-
edge would roll back all the mystery
from the nature OF the Deity, and
he would SEQ God as he IL,
for he would then be like
himself in his consciousness.
Through ourselves, then, we may reach
clearer knowledge OF the Deity than
mere nature can afford The
great difficulty In understanding God
through our cWn faculties lies in the
fact that we are imperfect. Our iacul-
ties have been distorted more or less.
Our sentiments are soiled by malig-
nant feelings. So much evil Is mixed
with the good that Il is often difficult
to separate between the good and evil.
But In order that men may know
hey ond q doubt his real character, He
has sent his con into the world and by
him has spoken to as. Jesus Christ
is the perfect expnkition, the exact
Interpretation OF Gods .mind and
heart. He ia the inca nation O. Gods
principle and attributes, hence Of
Code nature. To know Christ is TO
know God. II, therefore, we want to
understand any principle of Divine
nature sill We have TO do ia to turn 10
Christ, either as a perfect man or the
God inCafnste, aud understand that
principle in Him. II you wish to
know how God loves men, take uu
the life Of Christ. II you want to
understand the nature and rcope Of
Code iufinite and eternal Justice, Won
may spell 1t out in Jesus Christ. Az
His justice dealt with men,